A lack of a clean water supply in the largest reservation in the United States is a century-old issue, but it’s an issue that many Americans have never heard about.
Navajo journalist Charly Edsitty hopes to raise awareness of the history of oppression and exclusion that has kept the Navajo from their water and the ongoing legal and political battles to secure basic human rights.
Edsitty is fronting the 4th season of the award-winning ABC News podcast series Reclaimed with The Lifeblood of Navajo Nation.
“I don’t think a lot of people really knew this was happening until the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the Navajo Nation particularly hard, so I think that was really eye-opening for many Americans seeing that happen,” says Edsitty on the latest episode of Face to Face.
“I know a lot of networks were down here, in the communities covering the issue, many of us were being told to wash our hands and do what we could to stay healthy as possible but that really wasn’t the reality for hundreds, if not thousands across the Navajo Nation who just do not have running water coming out of their faucets,” adds Edsitty who is an anchor and reporter for ABC 13 in Houston, Texas.
The water issue for the Navajo Nation goes back to the 1920s when the Colorado River Compact was signed, an agreement that regulates water distribution among seven states in the southwestern U.S.
The Navajo Nation was left out of those discussions, while other cities and states began to thrive.
“I think it’s really important for American citizens, as well as even Canadians, to understand that the establishment of the United States was beneficial for certain groups of people and the system and the structure as it stands now really was not set up to be a level playing field for everybody who was living here in the United States,” says Edsitty.
“Unfortunately, Indigenous tribes have really been left out of important conversations that were started many, many years ago to have access to things like water and unfortunately it’s having a massive impact on our communities right now in 2024 and the fight is still continuing to try to get access to water and other infrastructure.”
Earlier this year, the Navajo Nation Council approved a settlement that would include $5 billion to build infrastructure across the Nation to provide water. The deal still needs to be approved by Congress.
“This has been something that has been a decades-long fight but unfortunately it’s not unique to Navajo Nation,” says Edsitty. “So many other Indigenous communities across the United States have their own issues and their own fights and I really hope that people walk away with a better sense of what’s happening in Native communities in 2024 and that they’ll educate themselves and maybe look to their elected officials and ask those important questions about what are we doing to help out our Indigenous communities across the U-S.”
Edsitty was happy when approached by a producer to be part of the project. She says too often Indigenous issues and stories are told by people who are not Indigenous.
Edsitty admits it can be intimidating when you’re the only voice in the room pushing and fighting for stories that impact Indigenous communities.
“Over the years I’ve learned to just be really confident in my ideas and my story pitches and just try to be an advocate for the Indigenous communities who are watching the coverage and who want to see their issues and their community reflected accurately in mainstream news,” says Edsitty.
She adds, “it can be lonely at times, it can be tough at times, especially if people don’t see the value in covering Indigenous communities but it’s a fight that I’m willing to continue to do and anytime I get to tell a story about Indigenous communities its always one of my favourites.”
